One of the great masters of music of the German tradition, Marek Janowski is recognized throughout the world for his interpretations of music by Wagner, Strauss, Bruckner, Brahms, Hindemith, and the Second Viennese School, and for his extensive and distinguished discography in this repertoire.
Janowski enjoys an outstanding reputation among the premier orchestras across the globe and regularly works with such ensembles as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Bayreuth Festival and Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Oslo Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra, and Tokyo Opera Nomori, among others.
In the 2024-25 season, he will make his long-awaited debut with the New York Philharmonic.
Highly sought after, Janowski has been lauded for his ability to create orchestras of international standing. Most recently, he was chief conductor and artistic director of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, from 2019-2023 and from 2001-2003. From 2002-2016 he was artistic director of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, and from 2000-2005 he served as music director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo. Between 1984 and 2000, as music director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Marek Janowski took the orchestra to a position of preeminence in France as well as abroad. From 1986 to 1990, in addition to his position in Paris, he held the title of chief conductor of the Gürzenich- Orchester in Cologne. He was also first guest conductor of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin between 1997 and 1999.
Born in Warsaw and educated in Germany, Marek Janowski’s artistic path led him from assistant positions in Aachen, Cologne, Düsseldorf and Hamburg to his appointment as general music director in Freiburg im Breisgau (1973-75) and then in Dortmund (1975-79). Whilst in Dortmund, his reputation grew rapidly, and he was invited to conduct in many of Europe’s leading opera houses. He has been a regular guest at every world-renowned opera house since the late 1970s, from the Metropolitan Opera in New York to the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich; from Chicago and San Francisco to Hamburg; from Vienna and Berlin to Paris. From the 1990s on, Janowski began to concentrate on the great German symphonic repertoire for which he enjoys an outstanding reputation.
Janowski’s discography, built over the past forty years, includes the iconic recording of Wagner’s Ring Cycle with the Staatskapelle Dresden (1980-83). It also includes many award-winning recordings of complete opera and symphonic cycles, such as his complete Bruckner symphonies with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, recorded for Pentatone. Further acclaimed releases on Pentatone include Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz, recorded with soprano Lise Davidsen and tenor Andreas Schager and with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony and MDR Rundfunkchor Leipzig; Beethoven’s symphonies nos 5 & 6 with WDR Symphony Orchestra; Schubert’s Unfinished and Great symphonies with the Dresden Philharmonic; and Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, the Transylvania State Philharmonic Choir, and a cast headed by Freddie De Tommaso, Lester Lynch and Saioa Hernández.
NOVEMBER 2024
